Weight loss workouts can come in many shapes and sizes. Find out whether or not pedal exercisers are good for losing weight.
Something important to keep in mind is that whether you lose weight does not only depend on the exercise you do.
Other lifestyle habits like your diet influence this a lot. You should even be able to see results without any exercise at all.
That being said, pedal exercisers are good for weight loss in the sense that they help in this process. If you use this type of equipment more after hitting a weight loss plateau, you should start seeing at least some results.
Some of the main benefits of pedal exercisers in a weight loss context are that they are a budget-friendly way to burn more calories in situations where you would not move otherwise.
It is worth noting that other workouts can be more effective for weight loss than pedal exercisers. At least if you have the time and desire to do them.
Can you lose weight using stationary pedal exercisers?
Pedal exercisers do work to some extent for goals like losing weight. However, there are conditions.
More specifically, your body uses energy throughout the day to move around and keep you alive. Your body gets this energy from food sources.
If there is more energy coming in from food than you are using, your body stores the remaining energy in stores like body fat.
This used to be a very helpful mechanism in prehistoric times. However, in modern life, this tends to lead to weight gain. Excess body fat tends to be very bad for human health.
Luckily, there are also ways to lose this excess body fat again. With and without pedal exercisers.
More specifically, when you make it so your body requires more energy than is coming in from the things you eat, you start using these energy stores like body fat.
Pedal exercisers can help with this by increasing the energy you use. At the same time, your habits in areas like nutrition still need to be good enough to see weight loss results.
How long should you use a pedal exerciser to lose weight?
After finding out that pedal exercisers can benefit weight loss, you likely want to know how long you will have to use these devices to see your desired results.
Again, your other lifestyle habits will influence these numbers a lot.
That being said, you can still get some interesting numbers by assuming you get in a situation where all the calories you burn come from body fat.
One pound of body fat is about 3500 calories (one kg +-8000 calories). With this and the number of calories burned with pedal exercisers, you can estimate how long your goals will take.
For example, a 155-pound individual using a pedal exerciser for 15 minutes a day for 10 days would burn around 640 calories or about 0.18 pounds (0.08 kg) of body fat.
After doing the same pedal exerciser workout for 30 days, this person would have burned an extra 1920 calories or about 0.55 (0.24 kg) pounds of body fat.
There are more impressive workouts but at the same time, using a pedal exerciser for 15 minutes a day is very doable. In turn, you can say this device can be helpful for weight loss.
Do pedal exercisers help burn belly fat?
A common goal of people who move more is using fat from specific areas like their stomachs. You may wonder if pedal exercisers can help with this purpose.
Something important to keep in mind is that you generally can’t choose in significant amounts from what areas you lose body fat.
At the same time, pedal exercisers can still help you burn belly fat if they help you lose enough weight overall.
As you lose more and more weight, your body will burn more and more belly fat.
Since this area is typically one of the last ones where you store body fat, you will likely also need to pay extra attention to areas like your diet if you want a six-pack.
How to lose more weight with pedal exercisers
While there are some rough general estimations, it is possible to burn more calories (energy) per minute of using a pedal exerciser.
This can help you see more weight loss results faster while spending the same amount of time working out.
Some methods you can implement to do this include:
- Pedal faster: Faster movements tend to require more energy from your body and the same applies to pedal exercisers. Try pedaling faster to see more weight loss results.
- Turn up the resistance: Another way to make your pedal exerciser workouts more challenging is by making it harder to pedal. Increasing the resistance setting will typically burn more calories per rotation.
- Add healthy body weight with other workouts: How much you weigh influences how many calories you burn a lot. By adding muscle mass with resistance training your pedal exerciser sessions will help you lose more weight.
It is challenging to predict exactly what the results of these changes will be in terms of calories burned. That being said, since time is often a big hurdle, seeing more results per minute can be more than worth it.
Besides the tips below, you can also consider making your pedal exerciser sessions longer and doing them more often. This will typically speed up your results too.
Lastly, to take your weight loss results to the next level, you can also consider making positive changes in other lifestyle habits.
Calories burned pedal exercisers vs alternatives
It is nice to know that pedal exercisers can help you lose weight and how long you have to use them to see results. At the same time, you likely also want to know how they compare to alternatives.
The time you spend pedaling is time you can not use for other workouts.
With numbers called MET values, you can make some rough estimations about how many calories a 155-pound (70 kg) person burns while doing different workouts for 30 minutes (1):
- Using a pedal exerciser (moderate effort): 128 calories
- Using a pedal exerciser (vigorous effort): 176 calories
- Using a mini elliptical (seated): 66 calories
- Walking (3 mph/4.8 kmh): 128 calories
- Using a standing mini stepper (moderate effort): 146 calories
- Walking (4 mph/6.4 kmh): 183 calories
- Elliptical machine (moderate effort): 183 calories
- Stationary bike (moderate effort): 256 calories
- Stair climber (moderate effort): 330 calories
- Running (5 mph/8.1 kmh): 366 calories
It is important to note that these numbers are not perfect. Your actual results may look different.
At the same time, this does help you understand how effective pedal exercisers are for weight loss compared to other equipment options and workouts.
Is a pedal exerciser as good as walking?
When it comes to burning calories and in turn, weight loss potential, a pedal exerciser can be as good as walking.
That being said, each activity has its unique benefits too.
For example, you can use a pedal exerciser while doing other activities like watching TV without spending any extra time on your workouts.
On the other hand, walking can help you get some fresh air, help you get some sunlight, and engages your upper body muscles slightly more
Keep in mind that your personal preferences also play a role when choosing between these two activities.
Should you choose a pedal exerciser to lose weight?
Pedal exercisers are not the most effective in terms of burning calories but they can still be a decent choice for losing weight.
They are mostly good in the sense that you can use a pedal exerciser while doing seated activities that you already do anyway.
By using pedal exercisers in moments like these, you don’t need to spend any extra time but you still get the extra weight loss results.
On the flip side, you do need to know that there are many workouts that are more effective than pedal exercisers for weight loss.
Even if you want to combine your workouts with other things like watching tv, listening to podcasts, or catching up with friends and family, a stationary bike is more effective (if this fits your budget).
Lastly, many people will also need to make positive changes in other areas like nutrition to hit their weight loss goals while using a pedal exerciser.
